The present invention is an apparatus for use in improving the growth rate, size at maturity, water consumption, general health, and production costs associated with the cultivation of beneficial plant life. The word “beneficial” meaning those plants cultivated for nutritional, industrial, medical or ornamental use.
It has been demonstrated to a point of common knowledge that rotating a plant during its growing cycle serves to alter its geotropic (gravity), phototropic (light), and hydrotropic (water) responses. The present invention combines the modification of all such innate responses via rotation with other features and components to comprehensively maximize the irrigation, fertilization, space, power, labor and cost efficiencies associated with the production of beneficial plant life.
One of the common limiters of beneficial plant growth is access to a supply of water sufficient to sustain robust growth. Typically, open field cultivation requires the delivery of large volumes of water via some form of broadcast sprinkling or spraying, or via free flowing irrigation channels. In all instances, the amount of water delivered to plants in these ways will be greatly in excess of the amount actually consumed by the plants.
For the most part, water delivered by broadcast or channel style irrigation methods is lost to evaporation, runoff, and seepage. Wasteful irrigation practices contribute to the stress of limited water supplies as water lost to such practices may require a lengthy period of time before returning to local water tables.
While some alternatives to largely wasteful broadcast and channel style irrigation such as controlled drip style systems may reduce water lost due to evaporation and seepage, the expense of such systems is often prohibitive, and the amount of water delivered to desirable plants versus the amount actually consumed by those plants still differs greatly.
Other alternative forms of cultivation such as hydroponics and aquaponics are also water intensive. While estimates vary, studies have demonstrated that as much as 20 to 30 gallons of water are required to grow a single head of lettuce utilizing either of these growing modalities. In addition, the nutrients utilized in hydroponics must be placed in solution via a process that requires substantial amounts of water adding to the accumulated water use footprint of this system of cultivation.
In controlled trials utilizing a working prototype, the present invention has routinely grown desirable plants to maturity at a consumption rate of approximately three gallons of water per plant with a correspondingly significant reduction in the amount of nutrients (fertilizers) and pesticides required to sustain robust growth and typically larger plants at maturity.
The present invention accomplishes exceptional water use efficiencies by rooting plants in a solid growing medium that is contained within a partially enclosed cylinder. This contained medium is hydrated via a unique drip and wick irrigation system limiting waste due to evaporation, runoff, or seepage while providing an exceptionally even hydration pattern within the growing medium.
With global water supplies in crisis, water conserving systems and devices of all kind are of unique value. The present invention is capable of providing this benefit, among others, on a large scale.
In addition to contributing to the stresses associated with dwindling water supplies, open field agriculture, and to a lesser extent hydroponic and aquaponic cultivation, introduce millions of tons of toxic chemicals into the global environment every year. Runoff containing agricultural chemicals is a significant source of pollution in lakes, rivers and oceans.
The present invention cultivates desirable plant life in a contained growing medium. This modality results limits runoff eliminating the majority of the pollutants associated with open field, hydroponic and aquaponic cultivation.
The entomological factors associated with the cultivation of plants in the ground compel the use of significant amounts of pesticides and fungicides to maintain the health of such plants. The toxins associated with agricultural pesticides and fungicides have been found to be hazards to human and other forms of animal life.
The present invention greatly reduces the need for pesticides by rooting plants in cylinders mounted in racks or towers. This elevates such cylinders well above the ground where many plant destroying pests and pathogens reside. In addition, the present invention employs a contained growing medium that is shielded from many of the air, water and soil borne pests and pathogens that give rise to the need for the application of pesticides and fungicides in open field production settings.
In controlled trials utilizing a working prototype, desirable plants have been grown to maturity without the application of toxic pesticides or fungicides. Any reduction in the consumption of pesticides and fungicides in the cultivation of beneficial plant life would result in a corresponding reduction in all forms of undesirable pollution related to such use.
The two dimensional nature of conventional open field, hydroponic and aquaponic agriculture requires a relatively large amount of horizontal space. In the instance of commercial farming, this requirement translates into a need for very large parcels of arable land. This need conflicts with the diminishing availability of arable parcels and an increasing global demand for food crops.
The present invention employs more vertical space than horizontal space. The growing medium filled cylinders employed in this invention are designed for stationary mounting in a vertical rack or tower. Unlike other designs employing the planetary rotation of a small number of smaller, light weight cylinders, the present invention accommodates vertical arrangements of cylinders of an unlimited number and size.
Projections based upon production yields obtained during trials demonstrate that the land required for the cultivation of a given volume of beneficial plants utilizing conventional open field farming methods can be reduced by approximately 50% when using the present invention. Further, cultivation employing the present invention does not require arable land. This factor serving to further relieve stresses on arable land reserves.
Conventional open field farming requires extensive use of complex and expensive farm equipment. In most instances, this equipment requires the large scale consumption of fossil fuels. The cost of such equipment combined with the cost of fuel, maintenance, insurance and labor for operators contribute to pricing pressures on desirable plant life.
The present invention utilizes a proprietary planting/harvesting basket (Hereinafter “basket) to facilitate the rapid seeding, starter growth, transplantation, growing and harvesting of plants. Seeds are germinated in baskets then grown to produce seedlings, sometimes called “starters”.
The roots of plants grown in baskets pass easily through the wire frame of the basket while stabilizing a root ball within the bounds of the basket. Prior to transplanting, a hole sized to the size and shape of a basket is excavated in the growing medium contained in a cylinder through a perforation in its outer casing. A basket containing a starter plant is inserted into the excavated hole then twisted to engage two locking tabs located under the upper retaining ring of the basket. The basket holds the starter plant in place until it roots expand into the growing medium in the cylinder.
With the exception of automated seeding, all aspects of the transplanting, growing and harvesting of plants grown in the present invention can be accomplished without machines or the need of generating or consuming mechanical energy. Eliminating the use of farm machines in the cultivation of desirable plant life should produce a positive effect on pricing pressures while eliminating undesirable emissions related to the consumption of fossil fuels.